The Diner Strand Review

I’m a big fan of tea but I’m an even bigger fan of Hard Tea cocktails…

What’s a Hard Tea cocktail you ask?

Hard Tea cocktails are these brilliant tea infused cocktails that The Diner has mixed up. If only I could drink this kind of tea at my desk huh?

The Long Island Iced Tea is an absolute classic but The Diner has created a whole new tea cocktail. We tried the appropriately named G&Tea, a delicious concoction of gin, Diner blend tea, elderflower and apple. We also sampled the Super Berry Paloma – super berry tea with pink grapefruit and tequila. The Diner has a great cocktail list, which isn’t surprising admiring the impressive spirit selection behind the bar.

It felt proper American diner style as we sat at the bar chatting and sipping on our tea cocktails and posting snapchats making the most of The Diner’s Snapchat filter for that evening!

To accompany our cocktails we munched on these jalapeno flavoured potato treats wrapped in bacon. They were just the right amount of spice and great comfort food for the upcoming winter months and so moreish!

The highlight of the night was by far the Red Slushy cocktail. Trust me, you cannot visit The Diner without trying this!!!! Think Cherry Slush Puppies but a hundred times better and they contain alcohol…a proper grown up alternative to my childhood favourite.

The Red Slushy is a delightful blend of Cherry Davna, chambord, super berry tea and raspberry sorbet. It was so good we couldn’t help but order seconds…

We gorged on sweet potato fries, Hanger fries (which were smothered in cheese, smokey onions and burger sauce) and a side of Tater tots. I’d never tried Tater tots before but they were delicious, perfectly golden with a fluffy potato centre – they reminded me of hash browns in a way.

The Diner’s menu features a variety of American diner classics, as pictured, as well as burgers, chilli dogs and there’s an all day breakfast. My guest commented on the authenticity of the food and whole style of The Diner, which says a lot from someone who has travelled and lived in the US!

I’ll definitely be back to try out more of the menu. Just reading about the red velvet pancakes has tempted me…

The decor and vibe of the bar transported us to the States for the evening. Our surroundings had has dying to book a trip to the US, I think we spent the majority of the evening discussing plans for a future trip. (Watch this space ;))

We had a lovely chilled evening at The Diner Strand, the newest branch in the 9 across the city. We arrived just after 6.30pm and the restaurant was buzzing. It’s located slap bang in the middle of the Strand amongst a variety of theatre shows making it the perfect pre-theatre treat.